Grassroots Alert: Vol. 25, No. 34 9/7/2018

This week the nation was subjected to an embarrassing and undignified spectacle of obstructionist partisan politics surrounding the confirmation hearings of Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh for the U.S. Supreme Court. The Democrat caucus, understanding that Judge Kavanaugh is an eminently qualified jurist with an upstanding reputation and that the votes likely exist to confirm him, abandoned the norms of the Senate and of civility and resorted to childish and temperamental theatrics. This included talking out of order and over their colleagues, including Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley; encouraging disruptive and illegal protests in the gallery; and holding up large posters to distract the Judge as he answered committee members’ questions.

Levi Strauss & Co. established its brand in the mid-19th century by selling durable clothing to working-class Americans. As Levi’s signature jeans gained popularity amongst a wider set in the middle of the last century, the pants came to symbolize American freedom. As Stanford Historian Niall Ferguson points out in his book, Civilization: The West and the Rest, during the Cold War, the American pants were so desirable behind the Iron Curtain that citizens would break any number of laws to obtain them. At one point the company even celebrated America’s armed heritage in a circa 1950 advertising brochure, “Levi’s Gallery of Western Guns & Gunfighters.” It’s with some irony then that Levi’s has abandoned this rugged image to team up with a billionaire oligarch in an effort to empower the government to trample upon the fundamental rights of the American people.

“I am not interested in giving any serious thought to John Lott or his claims.”
Those are the words of University of Alabama associate professor Adam Lankford in response to Fox News after economist John Lott called Lankford’s highly publicized study into question.
Lankford’s study was published in 2016 but was touted by President Obama and a fawning media anxious for any “evidence” that gun ownership is somehow evil even before it was officially published. Lankford’s anti-gun perspective is evident early on in his paper. His eighth paragraph starts, “Less positive may be the fact that, according to a comparative study of 178 countries, the United States ranks first in gun ownership…”

The Washington State constitution, Art. 2, sec. 1, contains an explicit direction that each “petition shall include the full text of the measure so proposed.” A state law incorporating this requirement specifies that all petitions circulated for signatures must have “a readable, full, true, and correct copy of the proposed measure printed on the reverse side of the petition.”

Join NRA-ILA for the annual 2018 NRA-ILA Firearms Law & The Second Amendment Symposium on Saturday, October 6th, at the Orlando Marriot Downtown in Orlando, Florida. RSVP is required.Focusing on recent developments in our nation’s courts and legislatures regarding the Second Amendment, speakers will discuss a variety of topics among multiple panels. The Symposium will feature top Second Amendment attorneys covering topics that range from recent, critical court decisions, federal and state level updates, as well as legal practice in both defending and advancing gun owners' civil rights in Florida and nationwide.Each registrant will receive valuable information including panelists’ written materials on their respective subjects. For guests who are attorneys, this year’s event may once again meet state requirements for continuing legal education. The event, including all materials, food and beverages, is free, and RSVP is required.https://www.nrailafrontlines.com/2018_law_symposium

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.